Thursday, June 4, 2009

A Week of Feasts, Beach, and a Wedding Dress!

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My parents recently packed up from St. Louis and came to stay with us in the old farmhouse for their annual week-long visit to Richmond. We had a fabulous visit flocked by late nights on the screened in porch “solving all the problems of the world” (as my dad likes to put it).

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The little barbeque got quite a workout all week as the sumptious 80-degree weather begged us outside day after day. In between eating and drinking, more thoroughly than Brittish royalty, we did manage to take a hike a day in Virginia’s lovely woods (the source of inspiration for much of my creative work).

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In addition to a wonderful picnic at the Williamsburg Winery (more eating and drinking)…

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…my parents enjoyed a daytrip to the beach (their first taste of salty surf and sultry sand in over a decade).

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In between all these comings and goings, mom and I managed to squeeze in a day at the salon (her first professional haircut in years) and shop for my wedding dress! Five boutiques and fifty dresses later, I found the ONE (if only finding the ONE you marry were so quick and painless).

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I am sooooo grateful to have found the ONE for me after just 3 states, 16 relationships, countless dates, and 20-something years!

To celebrate the momentous task (of finding my dress), the family toasted with mimosas before retiring back outside to enjoy our BFF (best friend forever), the screened in porch. Afterall, there were many more problems in the world (like reading and napping and firing up the grill) that required being solved.

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P.S. Here’s a sneak peak of where the ONE and I will be wed next year…

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posted by Dream Spiral Art at 1:00 am  

Monday, June 1, 2009

A new ring to share

I just listed a new ring in my Etsy shop today. She’s a one-of-a-kind beauty.THE CORAL RING.

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Pink coral blushes fervently amidst a bed of sterling silver in this ring, size 7. The oval cabochon measures approximately 8 x 6 mm. It is set on a unique U-shaped band that is ultra-comfy to wear. I’ve patterned the exterior of the band with a series of hatch marks, while the interior has been left smooth.

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Perfect for a summer picnic, eating purple grapes on green grass at an outdoor concert, or for a wander through the art museum, I’m certain you will love this precious ring as much as I have loved creating it!

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 7:02 pm  

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Live Fashion!

After a trip to Barcelona, Spain, where I soaked in the works of famous architect, Antoni Gaudi, known for such works as Sagrada de Familia and Park Guell, I created this ring, aptly named GAUDI Ring. This is a limited edition art jewelry ring, available in sizes 5 1/4, 5 1/2, and 6.

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I am a big fan of Gaudi’s architectural designs that often reference natural structures, such as trees, caves, and even fruit. So I was thrilled to have my GAUDI Ring included in a collection of handmade works inspired by architecture.

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Check out page 84 in the May 2009 edition of the online publication called, VIVA LA MODA. VIVA LA MODA is a new online publication that is filled with dozens of pages of eye candy on the latest handmade fashion-trends, that include clothing, art, crafts, and jewelry! Thanks to Ainhoa, Julie, and all the girls at VIVA LA MODA for choosing my ring and for putting this fun publication together!

VivaLaModa magazine

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 12:28 am  

Thursday, May 21, 2009

New Blumes in the Etsy Shop!

For the past four weeks SMB and I have been working hard to put the finishing touches on our flower beds that generously encircle half the house. With so much ground to cover, we’ve been planting in batches.

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I am happy to report that after a trip to our local plant nursery (support the little guys), and a heavy dose of pine-bark nugget mulch, we are content to stand back and admire our hard work. Dare I say it’s finished? I guess gardens, like everything else in life, require tending, pruning, refining, but for sanity’s sake, let’s call it finished.

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We took advantage of an unusually warm weekend back in April and were able to put the veggies in the ground early this year. We already have little green tomatoes bursting from the vines. I love the smell of tomato plants, rubbing the green leaves between my fingers. If there were a tomato-vine perfume or soap, point me in the right direction, and I’d buy it!

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In addition to the tomatoes, we have sugar snap peas, eggplant, three types of squash, string beans, peppers, and we even built a little section for our herbs (basil, cilantro, dill), potted strawberries, and fig tree. If the critters keep out this year, we should have an abundant harvest!

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I guess all of the green-thumbing, coupled with my latest mantra “BLOOM WHERE YOU’RE PLANTED”, got me hammering out silver flowers in my jewelry shop. These little beauties are fresh off the bench and are for sale NOW in my Etsy shop today. I have four pair in stock.

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Every flower needs a name, so after some pondering, I have decided to call them, “Modern Mums”. They are part of my ever-growing “Captured Collection”.


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posted by Dream Spiral Art at 2:06 pm  

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Kitty Boot Camp

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Does anyone know if there is a boot camp for cats? If so, my brat-cat pack needs to go for some training. Since when is it okay to wake your human momma up three times in the middle of the night? I think the cats may have me in boot-camp!

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SMB is out of town again and I think that may be why they have been acting up. They get extra needy when he is away and they know that I am the softie in the family and will sometimes let them sleep with me. Not this morning! After yelling at them through my sleep-deprived fog, I eventually got up and locked them in the guest bedroom. Take that, cats!

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Hopefully, if I am someday blessed with children, I will not be such a meanie mommie. Kudos to all of you parents, particularly those with infants. How do you cope when your kids won’t let you sleep and you still have to get up and function at your job? Does your body eventually acclimate to being sleep-deprived and no longer crave eight hours a night? If I have less than six, I look like one of those zombies in Micael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video.

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Unfortunately, sleep has been eluding me lately, so I have been extra cranky with the naughty beasts. I’ve picked up extra hours at the day job, meaning I come in earlier and stay later. The stay later part is okay by me, but I am so NOT a morning person! I once read that most right-brained creative types are night-owls. I always get my second-wind around 10:00 p.m., so going to bed before midnight is early for me.

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Does the brat-cat pack not realize that I’ve barely slept when they rattle the bedroom door and whine at 1:01 a.m., at 6:12 a.m., at 7:05 a.m.? Either they were trying to weasel an extra feeding out of me or they just wanted to sleep in my bed! The sleeping in bed with me would be fine if only they would SLEEP and not step on my head or purr like a motorboat in my ear, while drooling on my hand or kneading biscuits on my chest.

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Yes, we have strange cats. So strange, in fact, that one of them has actually figured out how to open doors. So we have to lock ourselves in the bedroom at night so the little beasties don’t barrel down the door. I wish I had a video of Potter opening the french doors. I’ve watched him do it before. It’s basically a body slam coupled with the precise timing of reaching his right paw up to pull down the latch. (I just realized that my cat might be right-handed, I mean right-pawed). Apparantly they are all right-brained like me, which explains the late-night restlessness… but not their taste in beer…

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posted by Dream Spiral Art at 10:12 pm  

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Becoming Rooted

The fiance and I have been working hard this spring to spruce up the old farmhouse.

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Why? You ask.

Because it looks like we are going to stay a while. Not only have our azaelas and hydrangeas finally begun to take root, but I have to admit, that I have been blooming here, as well. Call it a biproduct of caring for the space between and around these knotty-pine paneled walls, but for the first time in my 3 years living here, I’ve truly felt attached to this place. It is no longer just a transitional dwelling. It is our HOME. So we are tailoring it to our needs and fluffing the nest, so to speak.

Also, it must be mentioned that on Wednesday, my parents fly in for their annual week-long visit with us here at Chateau Beck. It’s not that my parents really care what state the old farmhouse is in, but it certainly motivates us to spruce the place up to make their stay more comfortable.

So here’s what we’ve been doing…

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SMB not only scraped the paint off all the windows, but he also reglazed them, which is necessary for maintenance, he tells me.

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While SMB did that (I am scared of heights), I stayed safely on the ground, touching up trim and painting the floor of our freshly screened-in porch. Thank goodness I am marrying a carpenter, who did all of the framing and screening and hanging of doors, while I was the master painter on this project. He works on the big picture and I do the details. Speaking of details, after the floor was painted we decided to splurge on a new set of patio furniture.

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On Thursday afternoon SMB assembled the furniture, so when I came home from work, I was able to put my feet up and enjoy a cold one outside in a mosquito-free haven! Even the kitties got to come out and enjoy the nice spring weather with us.

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Well, all but Spout, she is still a little tentative about all the new noises of the outdoor space, but she does peek out her perky white ears from time to time.

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posted by Dream Spiral Art at 8:06 pm  

Thursday, May 14, 2009

What’s in your pocket?

I’ll tell you what’s in my pocket! This cute little pocket-scale that I just ordered from Nile Corp.

from Nile Corp

It’s my first scale (ah – the thrill of new gadgets) and it’s perfect for weighing my silver scraps before sending them off to Rio’s refinery. The best part is that it’s on sale for only $7.99!

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 7:50 pm  

Saturday, May 9, 2009

THE GREAT BALANCING ACT

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I get the bug (so to speak) about twice a year to really tidy up the studio. This involves a lot of vacumning as the ladybugs, spiders, and stink bugs are quite attracted to my sunny workspace during the cooler months.

Although it only took me a couple of hours to tidy up, I couldn’t help but question if it was a productive use of the one day a week I get to work in my studio. I did manage to finish up a commission for the amazing Judie and ship out a few other packages, but one day a week is not much time for the creative muse to bring my metal dreams to life.

While cleaning my studio, I thought about John R., a jewelry store owner who I interned with while in college. John’s shop was messy, messy, messy! Crusted white flux and acid spills blossoming like fractals from every surface of his workbench, dirt, dust, polishing grime floating in the air, hand tools strewn about. I was amazed that he could find anything in his shop. But he did.

When I asked him how he could work in such a messy space, he told me a story about one of his jeweler friends. The friend’s shop was always immaculate, everything had it’s place, the shop vac ran daily. But the friend spent so much time keeping the shop clean that it left him with little time to work on commissions. Before long, the friend’s shop went out of business. John’s shop may have been messy, but he always had customers coming and going.

In the words of Dr. Seuss, “life is a great balancing act.” You’ve got to keep your studio clean (your lungs will thank you), but know when it’s time to put the vacumn away and pull out your favorite hammer!

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(And, yes, I am very aware of my dorkiness unveiled in this self portrait).

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 5:12 pm  

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

HOLY COW! THE COWS CAME HOME.

Welcome HOME, cows! I look out my bedroom window and see a field of cows in our backyard. This is one of the first indications that warm weather is finally here. For some of the herd, our land is their vacation home, where they come to summer and enjoy 10 acres of fresh, sweet grass during the warm months.

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Growing up in the suburbs, I never had much experience with livestock (although I did still dream of one day owning chickens and keeping bees, and I kept my inner country-girl happy by hiking in the woods, tending a vegetable garden, and riding horses at every opportunity available).

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In addition to the assurance the cows give that we won’t ever have to mow at least 10 acres of grass, I find it comforting to coexist with these massive, sentient creatures. They spend most of their hours, heads bent, mouths munching, ambling along, in one end, out the other. They are very efficient at what they do. EATTING. Oftentimes they tolerate me enough to hand-feed them wildflowers plucked from our yard. This, I do through the electric fence that divides our territories. OUR turf. COWS’ turf.

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IT IS AMAZING HOW QUICKLY A CALF LEARNS TO STAND. FULL OF VIM AND VIGOR ALREADY, THIS LITTLE GUY WAS BORN ONLY A WEEK AGO.

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I SWEAR HE IS GIVING ME THE STINK EYE. DON’T WORRY, LITTLE GUY, I WON’T EAT YOU OR YOUR FAMILY. MY DIET HAS BEEN MAMMAL-FREE FOR OVER A DECADE.

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ONE OF MY FAVORITE COWS IS “BIG RED”. SHE STANDS OUT FROM THE HERD (for obvious reasons) AND BECAUSE SHE IS SUCH A NURTURER. WHEN “BIG RED” IS NOT MOTHERING HER OWN CALVES, SHE IS ASSISTING YOUNGER MOTHER COWS WITH THE REARING AND NURSING OF THEIR CALVES. SHE IS A GENTLE SOUL.

We are so blessed to have this land to share with our friends and our friend’s cows. Very blessed, indeedy.

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 3:14 pm  

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

UPCOMING EXHIBITION AT ART6 GALLERY

On Friday, May 1, art6 gallery will host the opening of Defiant Silence, Never Forget!, contemporary reactions to the Holocaust through art. Curated by art6 member David Turner, Defiant Silence, Never Forget! will bring together artists of all genres from Virginia and around the world, including works by Joe Riley and Istvan Horkay from Hungary.

Curator’s statement: Sixty-three years ago the Auschwitz death camp was liberated and the full horror of the Holocaust was revealed. Sixty-four years later the Holocaust fades from horror to history to myth. For our children born to the relative quiet of a world absent lethal antisemitism the Holocaust has become an event relegated to the Jewish calendar alongside Tisha b’Av, that reminder of the destruction of the temples in Jerusalem. art6 gallery’s Yom Hashoah, Richmond 2009 will bring to life through art a contemporary acknowledgement and recognition of this latest major tragedy in Jewry’s Diaspora experience, Shoah. Defiant Silence, Never Forget! is dedicated to the memory of our murdered six million and to our 13 million who survived this nearly successful effort to eradicate all Jewish existence from the world. But mostly it is meant to serve as a living memory for our children, and for theirs.

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Also at art6, on Saturday, May 2, from 8:30 to 10 p.m., Slash Coleman will premiere his new Shoah period play Bonjour Israel. This event is free and open to the public.

On Saturday, May 9, in two performances from 6 to 7 p.m. and from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., Slash Coleman will perform his highly acclaimed “matzo ball” monologue. Admission is $15 ($10 for students), with proceeds to benefit art6 gallery and the Virginia Holocaust Museum.

The gallery exhibition runs through Sunday, May 24. For more information, contact art6gallery@gmail.com or visit art6.org. art6 is a member-run, non-profit art gallery dedicated to promoting and showcasing quality contemporary visual and performing arts, and offering opportunities for education.

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 12:17 pm  

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

APRIL SPECIAL AND UPCOMING SHOWS

In celebration of Earth Day on April 22, my newest jewelry line, the “Captured Collection” is marked 10% off for the entire month of April!!! Please visit my Etsy Shop to see the latest additions to the “Captured Collection” that include dried rose petals in deep red and springy yellow!

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If you are in the area, I hope you will come visit my booth at one of these upcoming shows:

Richmond, VA

Fool for Art at John Tyler Community College
Saturday, April 18, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
http://www.jtcc.edu/foolforart/

Annapolis, MD

First Sunday Arts Festival on West Street
Sundays – May 3, June 7, July 5, and August 2
12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.
http://www.goweststreet.com/

Bethesda, MD

Bethesda Artist Market – in Bethesda Place Plaza
(Corner of Old Georgetown Road and Woodmont Ave.)
Saturdays – June 13, July 11, and October 10
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
http://www.bethesda.org/arts/artistmarket.htm

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Hope you are having a hippity-hoppity Spring and a Happy Easter!

Toodles!

- Ann

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 1:58 pm  

Monday, April 6, 2009

Pixe’s Pick for April 2

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Yep, that’s me! I am Pixe’s Pick for April 2, 2009. Author of Pixe’s Treasure Chest, Mich, selects her featured picks from the artists of Etsy. From woodcraft to quilts or handmade jewelry to recycled totes, you just never know what you are going to find in the Treasure Chest! Always a fun read. Stop by and check out my interview! Thank you, Mich, for the feature!

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 4:56 pm  

Monday, March 30, 2009

art6 Gallery – Upcoming Exhibitions

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On Friday, April 3, art6 gallery will host the opening of the Regional Biennial Juried High School Art Competition. Coordinated by gallery member, Mitzi Humphrey, the exhibition will feature the work of current high school juniors and seniors working in all media. This is an opportunity for these students to exhibit work in a professional gallery setting, and cash prizes will be awarded.

This year’s juror is artist Eugene Vango, who will make the final selection for the exhibition and present first, second and third place awards. Vango is a painter and studied at the Art Students League of New York. He received his M.F.A. from Penn State and was chair of the art department of Virginia State University for many years. Vango has exhibited widely and is a popular judge for student and professional shows.

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The exhibition runs through Sunday, April 26. For more information, contact art6gallery@gmail.com or visit art6.org.

art6 is a member-run, non-profit art gallery dedicated to promoting and showcasing quality contemporary, visual and performing arts, and offering opportunities for education.

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 6:37 pm  

Sunday, March 29, 2009

VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS… and weddings!

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I discovered Virginia’s motto, “Virginia is for Lovers,” to be quite true, in fact. On January 21, 2009, while sitting by the fireplace in our 100-year old farmhouse, my boyfriend of 3.5 years, asked me to marry him!

Michael and I met in May of 2005 when I decided to relocate from my hometown of St. Louis, MO to Richmond, VA. I was interested in pursuing my MFA degree and, although I had applied for the graduate program at VCU in Richmond, I hadn’t been accepted. The strange thing is that, although I was accepted into two other graduate programs (CSU and SCAD), a string of ‘meaningful coincidences’ left me with an overwhelming desire to move to Richmond instead.

I decided to move to Richmond to take undergrad classes at VCU and reapply for the graduate program later. So I contacted the then-head of the metals department, Jim Meyer, and arranged to fly to Richmond to meet with him. I was only in town for a day and a half and had to, not only set-up classes with VCU, but also, to find (and sign a lease for) the place where I would live when I moved half-way across the country.

As fate would have it, the day I met with Jim Meyer at VCU also happened to be the day of the Genesis Design competition held for VCU’s metal/jewelry students at Schwartzchild Jewelers. Jim invited me to the opening and it was there that I met Michael.

Six weeks later, I loaded all of my possessions into a medium-sized U-Haul truck, and with the help of my brother, I made the cross-country trek to Virginia. Michael and I had talked on the phone and emailed almost daily during those six weeks after we met, so when I finally arrived in Richmond at my new apartment, he was there waiting to help me carry my belongings up three flights of stairs in the mid-summer heat.

I am truly blessed to have met my life partner. And I must say, from my perspective, Virginia has definitely lived up to it’s motto: “Virginia is For Lovers.”

Here’s a pic of our wedding rings - one of a kind pieces, designed by C. James (Jim) Meyer himself.

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We are getting married in Virginia on May 22, 2010!

posted by Dream Spiral Art at 8:15 pm  

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

SPRING SALE – MARCH SPECIAL

♥♥♥MARCH SPECIAL♥♥♥

The entire “CrAzY WiReBaLl CoLlEcTiOn” is marked 15% off in honor of Spring!

The Crazy WireBall Earrings have been one of my best sellers for ten years strong. They are simple and elegant, versatile and unique. Earrings come in Gold, Gold/Silver, Silver, on Posts, with Wires, and now with Hoops, too! So don’t miss out.

Special runs March 20 until March 31.

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posted by Dream Spiral Art at 2:51 pm  
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